1. Field of the Invention
In general, the invention is directed to the field of vending or dispensing machines adapted to dispense cylindrical items such as bottles or cans.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Various vending machines have been proposed in the past to vend articles such as bottles and cans stored in multiple columns located within a cabinet. Typically, in the prior art, various different mechanisms have been proposed to vend a single item at a time from such a storage arrangement. For example, a semi-cylindrical cradle mounted for rotation about an axis under each column of articles has been proposed such that articles enter the cradle and as the cradle rotates the articles are dispensed. The cradle may be segmented so that front or rear articles are vended depending on the rotational angle of the cradle. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,138 incorporated herein by reference.
Alternatively, there has been proposed to use an oscillating bail to selectively release a single article at a time. During an initial swinging motion of the bail, an article will be released from the front or rear of one of the columns in the cabinet and further movement of the bail thereafter releases an article from the other of either the front or rear of the column so that multiple articles can be released from the single column. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,019,650 and 4,036,400 both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Often in prior art vending machines when the cradle or bail has reached a certain position or predetermined vend angle, a product will be dispensed. Typically a switching means provides a signal to the vending machine's controller to indicate that the dispensing position has been reached. Of course the use of such a switching device to provide a signal to the control unit takes up space in the vending machine and thereby reduces the quantity of articles that the machine is able to hold. Such a educed quantity of articles in the vending machine requires vending machine operators to fill the machines more often and is generally considered less efficient and less desirable. However, in the past such a switching means has been necessary to easily allow an operator to simply change the mechanical switch setting when a new product package becomes available and is placed in the vending machine.
As can be seen from the above discussion, there exists a need in the art of vending machines for a mechanism to signal the vending machine controller, the vending angle of a cradle or bail for a given product which does not require a sensing switch and is easy to set up when new products are loaded into the vending machine.